Home Front Girls

had saved up her sugar ration too.
    ‘Oh, it’s just a lamb casserole,’ she said casually, avoiding telling him that she had been up until late the night before reading recipe books. She found a jug to put her flowers in, and once they were standing in pride of place in the centre of the table she edged her manuscript towards him, telling him shyly, ‘There you are. It’s done. I finished it late last night, and I made a copy with carbon paper. There are another couple of short stories for you to look at too.’
    He was just thinking what a remarkable young woman she was, when he suddenly remembered something. Taking a velvet box from his coat pocket, he handed it to her.
    ‘I er . . . brought you a little gift,’ he said. ‘I hope you’ll like it.’
    Dotty was flummoxed and it showed. ‘But you already bought me flowers,’ she objected. ‘There was really no need to bring anything at all.’
    ‘Even so I want you to have it. Open it, please.’
    She hesitated before taking the box from him, and when she opened it her eyes stretched wide and she was rendered temporarily speechless. Inside on a bed of silk was a gold locket on a fine gold chain. A red stone that was set into the centre of the locket glittered in the sunlight that was filtering through the window.
    ‘That’s a ruby,’ he told her softly. ‘And it belonged to my mother.’
    Now she did react. ‘Then I really can’t take it,’ she told him hastily, ‘It . . . it must be very precious to you.’
    He shook his head. ‘No, I want you to have it – and I have a feeling that if my mother could have known you, she would have wanted you to have it too. It was her mother’s before her, and seeing as I have no sisters to pass it on to, it’s a shame for it to lie in its box. You do like it, don’t you?’
    ‘Like it?’ Dotty was stunned. ‘But of course I like it! It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen – but I’m afraid it must be very valuable.’
    He shrugged. ‘It probably is, so it’s only right that it should go to someone who will treasure it, and I have a feeling that you will.’
    ‘But Robert, you hardly know me,’ Dotty protested. ‘I don’t think you should be giving this away.’
    ‘But I’m not exactly giving it away, am I?’ He smiled now as he lifted it from the box. ‘I’m entrusting it to someone who will love it as much as my mother did. Now turn around while I fasten it on for you.’
    Dotty did as she was told as Robert struggled with the tiny catch. It wasn’t easy with his withered hand but at last he told her, ‘There you go. Have a look in the mirror over there. What do you think?’
    Dotty crossed to the mirror and gently stroked the gift, still feeling in a state of shock. She had never owned a single piece of jewellery in her whole life and still didn’t feel quite comfortable accepting it. But she knew that if she didn’t, she might hurt his feelings and she didn’t want to risk doing that.
    ‘I really shall treasure it,’ she told him in a choky voice. ‘But I’ll only accept it on the understanding that should you ever want it back, you would tell me. We’ll consider I have it on loan.’
    ‘Fair enough, but it will be a permanent loan,’ he told her with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I don’t think it ever looked as good on Mother as it does on you. And I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me saying that.’
    She impulsively leaned over and kissed him then; thanking her lucky stars for the day she had met him and thinking what a lovely woman his mother must have been. He looked momentarily surprised but then he lifted his mug of tea and the awkward moment passed.
    Their time together raced by all too quickly. They had the lunch that Dotty had prepared, which Robert insisted was delicious, and then at his request she took him back into the city centre to see St Michael’s Cathedral. They then had afternoon tea at a restaurant – home-baked scones with jam and cream – a rare treat indeed – before slowly making their way back to the railway station.
    ‘I’ve had a wonderful day,’ he told her sincerely as they stood on the platform waiting for his train to pull in. ‘I almost don’t want to go home. The time seems to have flown by.’
    Dotty felt the same and merely nodded because the lump that had formed in her throat was stopping her from saying anything. He had a bag with her manuscript tucked safely away inside it and now he told her, ‘I shall get this to Paul,